72-Year-Old Woman Shoots at Would-Be Burglar, Stops Him

On Sunday, a 72-year-old woman fired her revolver at an intruder who was attempting to break into her home, protecting her property and her 85-year-old World War II veteran wheelchair-bound husband. Jan Cooper blasted one shot at the would-be robber at 12:30 a.m. that night. Before she did so, she called 911 and told the dispatcher that she had a gun. A few minutes later, she told the dispatcher that the intruder had tried to get into the house via sliding door. “I’m firing!” Cooper said to the dispatcher. Then she cursed at the intruder, fired, and told the suspect to “back up.”

Afterward, Cooper said, “You’d better get the police here. I don’t know whether I hit him or not. I’m not sure. He’s standing at my door, my back door. He’s in my yard.”

The suspect, 31-year-old Brandon Alexander Perez, was not hit but was captured by law enforcement minutes later. He pled not guilty to burglary. Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said that he had tried to burglarize the property despite a barking dog. “He was still desperate to get in,” Amormino explained. “So who knows what may have happened if she didn’t fire that round.”

Cooper said, “”I am a Christian woman and I’m very proud of it and I don’t curse, but after I shot, rage took hold and I just blasted away. And, in fact, afterwards my husband said, ‘I’ve never heard you talk like that!'” The intruder reportedly said to Cooper after she shot, “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m leaving. Please don’t shoot.”